Wire-annealing furnace.



, PATBNTED PEB. 4, 1908. H. By HUMPHREY.

WIRE AN BALIN G FURNAGB,

APPLICATION YILID JlNlj 14.1007

HARRY B. H'UMPHREY, Ol" JULIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNO) lLLINOS, A COPARTNERSHIP OONSISTING OF HOR B. HTTMPHREY.

'i ENT OFFICE.

.O HUMPHREY & SONS, OF JOLIE'l )E FRED HUMPHREY AN D HARRY WIRE-ANNEALING FUR ACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Feb. 4, 1908.

Application filed June lfb 1907. Serial No. 379.014-

To all willem it 'may concern.'

Be it known that l, Hanni' B. ,l-iirnrunnr, a citizen of the VUnited States, 'residing at Joliet, in the county of vWill and State of I llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Yi'ire-Anncaling Furnaces, of which the following,r is a specilication.

In the art of making wire, after the wire has left the drawing block, it is ordinarily passed through an annealing furnace for the purpose of rendering it pliable; and, in furnaces of this class, it is customary to draw the wire through one of the arches of the furnace from end. to end, and thereafter loop it baci; on. itself and pass it through another arch. As the wire runs through with great rapidity, it is necessary to provide sheaves -or rrollers at the rear end of the furnace,

around ywhich the wire is carried; and, in ordinary furnace construction, it has been cus ternary to arrange these rollers in horizontal line across theend of 'the furnace, although the wire is carried forward and back through superimposed arches. it is thus apparent that some of the rollers mounted upon the straight sheave will be out of alinenient with the holes, from which and inlo which the Wire passes, so that the wire will be drawn against the bricl; work of the arch, into which it will, beforelong, wear grooves or cuts, thereby weakening the arch structure, and finally tending to destroy it, and increasing the friction of the Ywire and the possibility of iraying or breaking it. This imperfect construction necessitates greater expenditure of power in drawing the wire through the furnace structure and is unsat isfactory from all points of view.

The object'of the present invention is to overcome these dilliculties by providing' each pair of wire holes with a roller properly positioned to `receive and discharge the wir'e in a line with the wire holes with which it coperates, and to provide for the cooling and lu-` bricating of the rollers or sheaves.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the annealing furnace of the usual style, showing at one end the sheave mechanism of the present inventifdn; Fig. 2 a 'half sectional view showing the end n and interior structure of the furnace; Fig. 3

an enlmwml view showing the sheaves and bearings; Fig. 4 a sectional view through the sheave showing one of the eccentrically mounted bearings and sheaves; Fig. 5 e sectional eleva-tion through one of the sheaves; Fig. 6 a side elevation of a modified form of bearing; and Fig. 7 a cross sectional elevation of the saine.

lFig. 1 illustrates an annealing furnace 0f the usual type, comprising a heating space 8, which is covered hy means of a lower wire arch 9, and an upper wire arch 10, which extend from end to end of the furnace and which, in usual practice, will be from forty to fifty feet long. The arches are formed of lire bric-l or similar impervious substance, and are provided from end to end with a plurality of lower wire holes 11 and upper wire holes 12, in the lower and upper arches, respectively. The s ecilic details of the furnace structure needinot be further described, for the reason that the furnace itself differs in no way from the furnaces ordinarily e1nployed for this class of work.

At the rear end wall 13 of the furnace is located a transversely extendingl horizontal fixed shaft 14 which,- at its ends, is supported by rearwardly extending brackets 15 se-7 cured to the rear furnace wall, the shaft ex tend-ing across the furnace at a level between the upper and lower wire holes, which, by reason of the arched formation of the furnace, will extend across in a curve coincident with the curvature of the arches. The shaft has mounted thereon a plurality of circular sheave hearings 16, most of which are arranged ecccntrically on the stationary shaft, the degree of eccentricity being coincident with the curvature of the arches. Each of the intermediate shea-ve bearings is of open formation, comprising an outer circular bearing'rim 17, and a partition walll 18 which divides the interior of the sheave bearing into a water chamber 19 on one side and a lubricating chamber 20 on the other side. The partition wall 1S, at a suitable point, depending upon the intended position on'the shaft of the particular bearing, is enlarged to provide a mounting 21 for the shaft. the bearing being positioned on the shaft by means of a key or spline 22, or in any other suitable manner. In Fig, 3, the' bearings near the outer ends of the shaft haveJ the mounting 21 near the upper ina gin of the bearing,P as shown in Fig. 4, and lang down therefrom, while the bearings nepi- 'r-he center which are locate of the shaft are near thelower margin, -as indicated in Fig. 5, While the intermediate bearings are. provided with mountings at suitable points in the partition wall 18 to maintain the bearings upon the shaftat a proper elevation to conform to the curvature of the arches.

tion a slieave 24, comprising a ring shaped hub 25, which, surrounds lthe intended bearing, and a grooved periphery 26 adapted to receive the Wire. 'l/lien the several bearings arefiXed on the shaft, iii the manner shown -in Fi 3, the single flanges of adjacent bearagainst false' plates 28a, which latter serve to position the outer sheaves, on their outerv sides, in the same manner that the adjacent ianges position the inner sheaves on both sides. bearings are each provided, in the lower side, with a cup or pocket 29, which is cored er hollo'wed out to receive oil from a pipe 3(),` one of which pipes preferably extends vto each oil cup, although a single -pipe can be employed to supply all of the cups; and the oil retained inthe pocket 29 is adapted to discharge through a vent hole 31 the bearings b eing so positioned on the shaftA that -the lubricating chambers of all the bearings will be on the inside of thc shaft and next to the furnace wall, which position will tend to discharge the oil into the hub of the surrounding shaft at the point of greatest cle'trance, which will always lbe'on the side opptisite to that around which the wire is traveling, the tension of the wire serving to hold the sheave in tight engagement with the bearing at one side, and affording a slight` clearance on the other side. The water chambers of the bearings, being in communication with one another, will forni a water passage from end to end of the bearing structure, which permits water to' Y[low through the bearings so as to cool them and. prevent jamming of the sheaves, which might otherwise occur by reason ofthe high temperature -at which' the wirel is carriedv around the sheaves, which will be consequently heated j to a highdegree. In order to prevent leakage, it is'desirable to interpose a packing y ring 32 betweenthe adjacent bearings of the series.

Each of the bearings has, at one side,` a'flange 23, which serves to posi- 'lhe lubricating chambers 2() of thel Figs. 6 and 7 showl a' roller bearing, which assed through inountin'gs may be employed-ifv additional ease of movement is desired, which bearing, as shown,. comprises a pair of ringsf33, between which a plurality of rollers are pivoted, the roller bearbecarried around the sheave without any binding or friction, which would inevitably occur if the wheel'were not positioned in the manner indicated. The wire isthus held out of abrasive contact with the brick work of the larch and runs forth and back through the annealing surface. easily and perfectly and without any vappreciable wear either to the wire itself or to the'furnace structure.

The formation of theI bear-ings is one which provides a water space which will be formed in thel ordinary operation of casting the bearii'igs and at a'point from which the metal would ordinarily be removed in any case;l .and the con'ibincd water spaces of the several bearings provide a water channel,

whereby all danger of overheating is eliminated. In like manner the lubricating oil is applied, at the point of greatest etliciency, from suitable holes in the pipe or pipes 3 0,

way of lubricating the parts, and obviates the necessity of providing oil cups or similar lubricating apparatus for each of the separate bearings'. The invention is one. which lwhic'his an extremely simple and eflicient v permits the employment of the furnace arch construction, which isthe strongest type of construction, and at the same time obviates all theobjections of this style of structure which have hitherto been present in cases in which the sheaves were not properly alined with the wirel holes. i

Vhat l regard as new and desire to secure j,

by Letters Patent is:

l1. ln combination with a wire annealing furnace having upper and lower airfares provided with wire holes, a straight supporting shaft, a plurality of circular bearings eccentrica-ily mounted on the shaft. and in 'substantial,alinement with the line of-curvature 0f the wire holes in the arches, and sheaves rotatably mountedv on .the bearings and hav- -ing their wire travel surfaces in register with Y theupper and lower line of wire holes, substantiallyas described. i I

2. In combination with a wire annealing furnace having upper and lower arches provided with wire holes, a straight supporting iiov trically mounted on the shaft and in substantial alinement with the line of curvature of the Wire holes in the arches, the bearings being each provided with a water space of suitable size tc cooperate with the Water spaces in adjoining bearings to provide a water channel, and sheaves rotatably mounted on the bearings, substantially as`l described.

3. In combination with a wire annealing furnace having upper and lower arches pro-4 vided with Wire holes, a straight supporting shaft, a. plurality of circular bearings eccentrically mounted on the shaft and in substantial alinement with the line of curvature of the wire holes in the arches, the bearings beinor each provided -with a Water space of suitsble size to coperate with the water spaces in adjoining bearings to provide a water channel, the bearin s being further; provided with oil pockets aving; oil vents adapted to lubricate the bearings, and

` sheaves rotatably' mounted on the bearings,

substantially. as described.

,f1.- In combination with a wire annealing furnace having up er and lower arches pro- `lvided with Wire ho es, brackets on the end of the furnace, a stationary shaft supported by the brackets, a plurality of bearings, each comy' prising a flanged periphery and each having anoil chamber and a water chamber separated by meansof a partition wall, the partition Wall having formed therein a mounting for the shaft, said mountings being so positioned that when the bearings are inserted onto the shaft they will maintain a position co-incident with the line of curvature of the arches and form a Water Vchannelfroin end to end ofthe bearing structure, means for con- 40 veying oil tothe several oil chambers, and ,i sheaves rotatably mounted on the several bearings and having their bearingsurlaces in register with the upper and lower wire holes with which they cooperate, substan-` tially as described.

5. In combination with a'wire annealing furnacehaving up er and lower arches provided with Wire ho es, brackets on the end of the furnace, a stationary shaft supported by. '50 the brackets, a plurality of bearings, each comprising a `flanged periphery and each. having an oil chamber and a,'wate1 chamber separated by means ol 'a partition wall, the partition wall 4having ior'ied therein a' 5b mounting for the shaft, saidgnountings b eingV so positioned that when the bearings areinserted onto 4the shaft'tliey\ vll maintain a position co-incident with lthe lin'e'of curvature of the 4arches and form a Water'channel from 60 end to end of the bearing structure, means -for conveying `oil to the several chambers, sheaves carried by the bearings, and rollers interposed between thebearings and the sheaves, substantially as described.

HARRY B. HUMPHREB.v

- Witnesses: l

WALKER BANNiNG, SAMUEL W. BANNiisc. 

